Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Game 21 = Defense and Umps

Because of the mid-game blog post, I'll make this post as brief as possible. Today's game was defense all the way (as it must be for a Cubs night game at Wrigley in April). Minus the one throwing error on the double play attempt by Cristian Guzman early in the game, the Nationals not only played flawless defense, they played exciting defense tonight.

When you have a guy like Livan Hernandez on the mount, you know that the defense behind him is going to have to play their best, because he pitches to contact. Well, the Nats did not disappoint. It started early with a diving play by Ian Desmond up the middle to prevent a Fukudome double, then an incredible catch by Alberto at 3rd on a Derek Lee line drive. Then there was another Ian Desmond pick and flip for the double play turn attempt. While it didn't work, on one of many questionable calls by the umps (see below), it was a show of why Desmond is going to be a quality shortstop for years to come. Finally, in the 6th, Willingham, who is much improved defensively, made an extended, leaping catch.

There were three very questionable ump calls on the night. Riggs came out to argue 2 of them.:
  • The double play early in the game off of the amazing Ian Desmond turn from short. (Riggs argued).
  • Justin Maxwell was called out stealing 2nd in the top of the 7th.
  • On the last out of the 7th inning, Gonzalez was called tagged out at first on an errant throw by Theriot. On the replay, he was clearly never tagged by Lee. Clear as day. (Riggs argued this as well).
  • A horrible missed strike in the bottom of the 8th with Clippard pitching to Marlon Byrd. This pitch was literally down the middle of the plate on the pitch track. Luckily, it didn't have any effect in the run column, and Tyler got out of the jam.
Luckily, the defense was so strong, that even some questionable calls couldn't take the win from the Nats, and they're once again, a game above .500, putting them as W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W over the last 11 games. Let's see if the team can get a second W in a row to get them 2 games above .500 in tomorrow's matinee at Wrigley to end the series.

1 comment:

  1. Look at you getting a blog entry in right after the final pitch! Well done.

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